Caterpillar company closer to adding Londonderry location

LONDONDERRY — A regional company specializing in Caterpillar machines, parts and servicing is slowly creeping toward its goal of adding a Londonderry location.

Milton CAT, founded in Hopkinton by the Milton family in 1960, currently operates 13 locations, including those in Hopkinton and Warner.

Other sites are in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, Maine and New York.

During this week’s planning board meeting, board members agreed the company’s proposed facility at 30 Industrial Drive probably wouldn’t be a project of regional impact.

However, chairman Arthur Rugg said that due to the facility’s location, which would be situated just north of Pettengill Road, project plans would be further discussed with the Southern New Hampshire Planning Commission in the coming months.

The project, which would be located in the town’s Gateway Business District, went before the conservation commission in late June.

Ferrin said an acre of upland would be used for storage of Caterpillar equipment and would be connected by a gravel driveway to the main parking lot.

A small area facing Industrial Drive would be used to display equipment. Ferrin said construction of the facility would have no impact on area wetlands and town regulations on green space requirements would be honored in the process.

He noted that storage areas would feature gravel surfaces while pervious pavement would be used in the main parking areas. Precautions would be taken to prevent any fluids from seeping into the soil.

“The majority of these vehicles will be new ones, so this won’t be a major problem on this lot,” Ferrin said, noting that the company’s Best Management Practices report and permits from the state Environmental Protection Agency would be submitted to the town at the conservation commission’s request.

Conceptual discussions on the Londonderry facility began earlier this year.

At a January meeting, Ferrin assured the planning board that Milton CAT “brings a lot to the communities it serves.”

He said warehousing, servicing and sales would be the bulk of the Londonderry facility, though equipment rentals would play a smaller role in its operations.

About 800 workers, spread across the 13 locations, are employed with Milton CAT.